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((Haupia is the coconut pudding stuff. Okay, that sounds kinda gross, but trust me. =D It really doesn't taste like sweetened coconut. Like if you were to make vanilla pudding with coconut flavoring. <3

*throws salami at Nadil*))

((Do you know what taro/kalo is? Basically you take the tuber (a bit like a more diamond shaped darker potato) of the varient of the plant grown in water, not in soil, b/c those are poisonous, and you first skin it then mash it up. You want to get all the root-bits off. ...I'm not sure how to describe the taste. It's fairly bitter, I guess, and unless you eat it within the first day or so it gets sour really quickly. So you would add sugar unless you like it like that. It's really filling. Thick consistancy, kinda like a stickier pudding. It looks like a sort of purple-brown pudding, actually. Unless you're in a restaurant or something, you eat it with your fingers by dipping them in. There's not as much avalible as there used to be because a bunch of the farms have gone out of business, but you can buy a one-pound bag at the grocery store for maybe three or four dollars. They go fast, though. You can also buy mix for poi pancakes, but I've never had those. Kulolo is a dessert made by basically mixing poi and sugar (and coconut milk? I forget how, exactly...) until it gets more solid, almost until it feels like mochi.

domokun

...You made me hungry. gonk

And can someone explain grits to me?))

((Don't kill me, ok!? D8 ))

Maria had sent Ruka away close to midday, after the cleaning was finished, and while she was both thankful and felt more sure of the vampire, she had remained somewhat aloof the whole time. At the moment, with the midday hour having passed into very early afternoon (she could probably still get a late lunch...), the Executioner and Cascade's Sister stared at each other, eyes narrowed and mouths drawn into thin lines.

"Beg pardon for the intrusion, Sister, but I've got a job to do. I hope there's no hard feelings," Dee said with a dip of her head, impressed by the girl's stubbornness, but more than a little unnerved by the... difference, she felt. Something was off with Sister Maria, something that most probably had to do with Cascade one way or another. Sister Maria blinked large eyes, and shook her head, fearlessly slipping past Dee to open the door for her.

"Not at all, Executioner Dee. But actions reveal more than words, so we'll see if you're as good as your mouth."

Chuckling, Dee walked out into the blazing sunlight, frowning at the dark clouds hanging like witch's breath at the horizon. Rain didn't come often in these parts of the country, hadn't done since before the Apocalypse, but when it came it was merciless.
"Oh, they will be. I'll do my job, and you'll do yours, and maybe we're even going to be working on the same goal."
Maria's answering smile was grim and her eyes hooded, adding years and precense beyond her supposed age and definite stature.
"Maybe. Good day, Executioner." The door was slammed shut behind Dee, and she had to wonder how, with how that door seemed closed all the time, the air inside the Shelter didn't turn into a stuffy heat that was impossible to breath in.

Now, for lunch. With a grin, Dee went off towards the Singing Nymph.

"Oh, there you are." Horatio smiled as Ruka slipped in through the shop's front door, the bell tied to the handle ringing. "I was just wondering where you had gotten off to."

He was seated behind the counter, carefully carving out details on the little wooden horse. Setting down the knife and figurine, he stood and walked over to greet her. "I was listening to the radio this morning and it doesn't sound like the new shipment's going to be delayed any, but it's also not going to be arriving any earlier than expected. Did you see the clouds on the horizon?" Horatio glanced out the window, any view he might have had of them blocked by the buildings across the street. "We might actually get some rain. Now," he seemed to recollect his thoughts, "I was thinking of having you clean out the storeroom. It's nice and cool in there on a hot day such as this, and it's dark. It's dusty, though, and I've been meaning to get around to giving it a regular scrubbing. The floor needs to be swept and all the surfaces should be cleaned."

Fishing out his key, he let them both in to the storeroom at the back of the shop, the crowded space lit only by the light coming through the doorway. "It's probably an all-day job, but that's counting a break for lunch. You think you can do that?"

Horatio could not help but smile at Ruka's enthusiasm at the prospect of a day full of cleaning. "I don't mean to pry," he said as he walked back to the counter, "but how often do you need to eat? After all," he allowed himself a short laugh to show that she should not take him completely seriously, "I can't have my worker collapsing on the job. It would be bad for business."

Jackson looked up from the television above the bar as the door opening. It was Dee, the werewolf Excecutioner, he noted, and turned his gaze back to the announcer on the screen. Privately opposed as he was to the government, he could not help feeling anything beyond a mild disinterest in the woman. Part of it, he knew, was her cheerful personality (which, he also knew, stood a good chance of being a trick to encourage the townspeople to let down their guards around her), and the rest was probably since she was, at the moment, one of his most reliable customers and best tippers. It was difficult to fully hate someone who was enabling you to eat. The fact that he was so easy to manipulate, even if he was aware of it, was pretty much the only reason he did not enjoy the small amount of talk they had.

((Grits sound interesting... I love cornbread. ...A bit like oatmeal in consistancy?))

Horatio frowed, looking from the doorway behind which Ruka's voice was coming to the quiet street outside. As much as he was looking forward to the rain, it seemed as though the threat of it would be bad for business.

"That's not right. You deserve to be fed as much as anyone else. Hell, at least you let your food go on living." He sighed, taking out his knife and carving again. This was one problem he would have to deal with, and soon.

The bell to the shop rang merrily as someone entered.
"Horatio?" Apparently Lucretia had finally come around to collect. "Are you there?" The doctor stood in the main room that made up the shop looking around.

((Yep, very much oatmeal consistancy. ^_^))